Every multiplex conversation eventually arrives at the same question: who owns what when it is done? There are three basic answers, and the one you choose shapes the design, the financing, and the exit. Choosing late is expensive; the structure has to be in the drawings from day one.
Strata: sell the units individually
Stratification gives each unit its own title, so units can be sold one by one, usually the strongest financial exit. It also creates a strata corporation, common property, and ongoing governance, even in a fourplex. Design implications are real: shared systems, parking allocation, and building separation all have to anticipate the subdivision. Most municipalities permit stratifying SSMUH units, with local variations, and some, like Burnaby, exclude secondary suites from stratification.
Fee simple rowhouse: no strata at all
Where a municipality allows it, fee simple rowhousing puts each unit on its own lot with its own title and no strata council or fees. Buyers love the simplicity, and it can command a premium for exactly that reason. The trade is a true land subdivision with its own approval path, and party-wall agreements replacing strata bylaws. Burnaby is one of the few Metro Vancouver cities with a defined fee simple rowhouse route.
Single title rental: keep it all
The simplest structure: the whole property stays on one title and the units rent. No subdivision process, maximum flexibility to refinance or convert later, and in Vancouver the secured rental stream actually unlocks more units and floor area than market strata. The trade is concentration: one owner carries the mortgage, the vacancies, and the maintenance.
The hybrid most homeowners actually want
Live in one unit, rent the others, and keep the option to stratify and sell down the road. Entirely achievable, but only if the design supports future stratification even though you are not subdividing today. That is the single most common thing we flag in feasibility reviews: a layout that quietly forecloses the exit its owner assumed they would have.
Shortcut: text Dawar directly at 604-808-3797 with your address. He answers his own phone, and he'll tell you straight what your lot allows. No form needed.